TWI706802B - Portable nucleic acid extraction device - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable nucleic acid extraction device is suitable for installing several reagent cartridges and several magnetic stirring sets. The portable nucleic acid extraction device includes a rack unit, a bearing base unit and a lifting unit. The rack unit includes a central column extending along a top and bottom direction. The supporting base unit includes a supporting base rotatable relative to the central column, and the supporting base has a plurality of positioning members arranged at intervals along a circumferential direction, and the positioning members are used for positioning the reagent cartridges. The lifting unit is used to drive the magnetic stirring sets to move relative to the bearing base, and the lifting unit includes a first ring base and a first driving mechanism. The first ring seat is arranged outside the central column and used for the arrangement of the magnetic stirring sets. The first driving mechanism is used to drive the first ring seat to move relative to the bearing seat.

Description

Portable nucleic acid extraction device

The present invention relates to a chemical equipment, in particular to a portable nucleic acid extraction device.

Nucleic acid extraction biochemical reaction is the use of magnetic bead separation technology to extract nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) from biological samples, which is further used in biological detection such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR, Polymerase Chain Reaction).

The above-mentioned extraction method is usually to put reagents of different properties into a deep-well plate. The deep-well plate has several reagent tanks arranged in a matrix. A number of magnetic stirring sleeves are inserted into the reagent tanks for stirring, and several Biological samples, magnetic number beads and reagents of different properties are fully mixed, and the purified nucleic acid is extracted after lysis, washing, nucleic acid recovery and other reaction procedures.

Referring to Figure 1, a nucleic acid extraction device 1 that the applicant of this case has previously obtained the Republic of China Invention Patent No. I477755 as an example is suitable for installing a deep-well plate 11 with several reagents arranged in a matrix. Tank 110, the nucleic acid extraction device 1 includes a base 12 for installing the deep well plate 11, an extraction mechanism 13 installed on the base 12, and a drive for driving the deep well plate 11 to be horizontal relative to the base 12 A lateral displacement mechanism 14 for displacement, and a longitudinal displacement mechanism 15 for driving the extraction mechanism 13 to move vertically relative to the base 12. The extraction mechanism 13 has a plurality of stirring sleeves 131 arranged in a straight line, and the lateral displacement mechanism 14 uses a combination of a rack 141 and a gear 142 that mesh with each other to drive the deep-well plate 11 to move in a horizontal direction. The longitudinal displacement mechanism 15 uses linear slide rails to drive the extraction mechanism 13 up and down, thereby enabling the stirring sleeves 131 of the extraction mechanism 13 to transfer between the reagent tanks 110 and perform stirring.

Although the nucleic acid extraction device 1 can extract nucleic acids from several biological samples (not shown) at the same time, since the lateral displacement mechanism 14 uses linear motion to produce horizontal displacement, the device volume must include the installation of the lateral displacement mechanism 14 Space and displacement space, resulting in larger equipment volume, there is still room for improvement.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a compact and lightweight portable nucleic acid extraction device.

Therefore, the portable nucleic acid extraction device of the present invention is suitable for installing several reagent cartridges and several magnetic stirring kits and is used to drive the magnetic stirring kits to extend into the reagent cartridges respectively. The portable nucleic acid extraction device includes a machine Shelf unit, a bearing base unit, and a lifting unit. The rack unit includes a central column extending along a top and bottom direction. The bearing unit includes a bearing seat ringed outside the central column along the top and bottom direction and rotatable relative to the central column. The bearing seat has a plurality of positioning members arranged at intervals along a circumferential direction, and the positioning members It is used for positioning the reagent cartridges to be installed on the bearing seat. The lifting unit is arranged on the frame unit and used to drive the magnetic stirring sets to move relative to the supporting base in the top and bottom direction. The lifting unit includes a first ring base and a first driving mechanism. The first ring seat is higher than the bearing seat and ringed outside the central column, and the first ring seat is used for setting the magnetic stirring sets. The first driving mechanism is used to drive the first ring seat to move relative to the bearing seat in the top and bottom direction.

The effect of the present invention is that the bearing seat of the present invention adopts a circular motion displacement mode. Compared with the conventional linear motion, the present invention can further reduce the volume of the equipment under the condition of the same displacement distance, and at the same time set the lifting unit Within the circumference of the bearing seat, space is effectively used, so that the present invention has the effects of miniaturization and light weight.

2 to 4, an embodiment of the portable nucleic acid extraction device of the present invention is suitable for installing a plurality of reagent cartridges 91 and a plurality of magnetic stirring sets 92, and is used to drive the magnetic stirring sets 92 to respectively extend The reagent cartridges 91. The outer contour of each reagent cassette 91 of this embodiment is arc-shaped and has a plurality of reagent grooves 911 opened on the top surface, and a long arc groove 912 formed on the bottom surface. Each magnetic stirring sleeve 92 of this embodiment has a stirring sleeve 921 and a magnetic rod 922 made of permanent magnetic material. The portable nucleic acid extraction device includes a rack unit 2, a supporting base unit 3, and a lifting unit 4.

The rack unit 2 includes a central column 21 extending along a top and bottom direction Z and a circular cross section, a top seat 22 fixed to the top end of the central column 21, and a ring fixed to the bottom end of the central column 21 In addition, the fixing base 23 is substantially in the shape of a disc, and several supporting legs 24 are arranged on the bottom surface of the fixing base 23 at intervals.

The supporting base unit 3 includes a supporting base 31, a blocking base 32, a gear 33, and a rotating driver 34. The bearing seat 31 is ringed outside the central column 21 along the top and bottom direction Z. The bearing seat 31 is rotatably disposed on the fixing seat 23 so that the bearing seat 31 can rotate relative to the central column 21 and the fixing seat 23.

3, 5 and 6, in detail, the bearing seat 31 is substantially circular and has a top surface 311, a bottom surface 312 opposite to the top surface 311, and a bottom surface 312 connected to the top surface 311 and An inner ring surface 313 of the bottom surface 312, an outer ring surface 314 opposite to the inner ring surface 313, and a plurality of positioning members 315 arranged on the top surface 311 along a circumferential direction C at intervals. The inner ring surface 313 surrounds and defines a receiving groove 310 for the central column 21 to pass through, and the positioning members 315 are used for positioning the reagent cartridges 91 to be installed on the supporting seat 31. Each positioning member 315 of this embodiment has an arc groove 3151 recessed on the top surface 311 and used for placing the bottom end of the corresponding reagent cartridge 91, and two arc grooves 3151 located in the arc groove 3151 The uprights 3152 extending along the top and bottom direction Z, when the height of the arc-shaped grooves 3151 are low, the uprights 3152 are used to assist the two ends of the long arc grooves 912 of the respective reagent cartridges 91 to be engaged and arranged to have Positioning role. However, in other variations, each positioning member 315 can also omit the respective arc-shaped groove 3151, as long as the bottom end of the respective reagent cartridge 91 can be penetrated through the vertical rods 3152 and have the same positioning function. Alternatively, each positioning member 315 can also omit one of the vertical rods 3152 or both of the vertical rods 3152, as long as each arc groove 3151 of sufficient height can still be used for the bottom end of the respective reagent cartridge 91 to be engaged It has the same positioning effect.

It should also be noted that if a heating procedure is required during the stirring and extraction process, an opening can be formed in one of the vertical rods 3152 of each positioning member 315, and a heating element (not shown) can be accommodated The opening can be heated.

Preferably, the inner ring surface 313 has a small aperture section 3131 on the top side, a large aperture section 3132 on the bottom side and an inner diameter larger than the inner diameter of the small aperture section 3131, and a small aperture section 3132 connected to the small aperture section 3131 and the shoulder 3133 of the large aperture section 3132. The fixing seat 23 is embedded in the large aperture section 3132 and abuts against the shoulder 3133. In this embodiment, the inner ring surface 313 has a tooth portion 3134 formed on the small aperture section 3131 and surrounding the entire circumference, and the shoulder portion 3133 has a plurality of through holes 3135 arranged at intervals.

More preferably, the supporting base unit 3 further includes a plurality of rotating members 35 which are received in the through holes 3135 of the supporting base 31 and rotatably contact the top surface of the fixing base 23. In this embodiment, the rotating members 35 are respectively a universal ball. With the aid of the rotating members 35, the smoothness of the rotation of the bearing seat 31 along the circumferential direction C can be improved.

2 to 4, the blocking seat 32 extends from the supporting seat 31 toward the top side, and the blocking seat 32 is located inside the positioning members 315 and surrounds and defines a chamber 320 for the center column 21 to pass through. Preferably, the blocking seat 32 has a side groove 321 recessed in the direction of the central column. When the frame unit 2 is closed by a housing (not shown) in this embodiment, it is convenient for the operator to use A door (not shown in the figure) of the housing extends into the side groove 321 so that one of the reagent cartridges 91 can be installed and removed smoothly. The gear 33 is rotatably meshed with the tooth 3134. The rotation driver 34 is a motor, and its output shaft 341 penetrates the gear 33 and is used to drive the gear 33 to rotate. The rotation driver 34 can drive the gear 33 to rotate, thereby driving the bearing seat 31 relative to the center column. 21 rotation.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 7, the lifting unit 4 is disposed on the frame unit 2 and used to drive the magnetic stirring sets 92 to move relative to the supporting base 31 in the top and bottom direction Z. The lifting unit 4 includes a first ring seat 41, a first driving mechanism 42, a second ring seat 43, and a second driving mechanism 44. The first ring seat 41 is higher than the bearing seat 31 and ringed outside the central column 21. The first ring seat 41 is used for the stirring sleeves 921 of the magnetic stirring sleeves 92. Preferably, The first ring seat 41 has a first seat body 411 surrounding the center column 21, and a first seat body 411 extending from the first seat body 411 toward the bottom side for the center column 21 to slidably pass through. The collar 412, the first seat body 411 is used to set the stirring sleeves 921 and has a first mounting hole 410 for the center column 21 to pass through. The inner diameter of the first mounting hole 410 is larger than that of the center column 21 Outer diameter. In this embodiment, the first driving mechanism 42 has a first coupling member 421, a first screw 422, and a first driver 423. The first coupling member 421 is fixedly disposed on the first ring seat 41. Preferably, the first coupling member 421 is an inverted T-shaped nut, but the first coupling member 421 can also be directly formed on the The threaded hole of the first ring seat 41 also has a screw connection function. The first screw 422 extends along the top-bottom direction Z and has a top end fixed to the top base 22. The first screw 422 passes through the first coupling member 421 and is rotatably screwed to the first coupling member 421. The first driver 423 is a motor and is connected to the bottom end of the first screw 422 through a coupling and is used to drive the first screw 422 to rotate. The rotation of the first screw 422 can drive the first ring seat 41 along The top and bottom direction Z moves so that the stirring sleeves 921 can move up and down along the top and bottom direction Z.

The second ring seat 43 is arranged around the center column 21 and is higher than the first ring seat 41. Preferably, the second ring seat 43 has a second seat body 431 surrounding the center column 21, And a second collar 432 extending from the second seat body 431 toward the top side and slidably passing through the central column 21. The second seat body 431 is used for installing the magnet bars 922 and has a A second mounting hole 430 for the second collar 432 to be embedded. In this embodiment, the second driving mechanism 44 has a second coupling member 441, a second screw 442, and a second driver 443. The second coupling member 441 is disposed on the second ring seat 43. Preferably, the second coupling member 441 is a T-shaped nut, but the second coupling member 441 can also be a type directly formed on the second ring The threaded hole of the seat 43 also has the function of screw connection. The second screw 442 extends along the top-bottom direction Z and has a top end fixed to the top base 22. The second screw 442 passes through the second coupling member 441 and is rotatably screwed to the second coupling member 441. The second driver 443 is a motor and is connected to the bottom end of the second screw 442 through a coupling and is used to drive the second screw 442 to rotate. The rotation of the second screw 442 can drive the second ring seat 43 to move in the top and bottom direction Z, so that the magnet bars 922 can move up and down in the top and bottom direction Z.

In particular, in this embodiment, the first driving mechanism 42 and the second driving mechanism 44 are driven by a combination of a screw and a motor, but in other modified examples, the first driving mechanism 42 and The second driving mechanism 44 can also adopt a combination of a sprocket and a chain with a motor, a combination of a pulley and a motor, or an equivalent mechanism that can achieve movement in the top and bottom direction Z, but it is not limited to this.

As shown in FIG. 8, the second collar 432 has a plurality of radially arranged and symmetrically arranged ribs 4321, and the ribs 4321 extend along the top and bottom direction Z, and the ribs 4321 and the central column The slidable contact of 21 can reduce friction and improve the smoothness of lifting and moving. Similarly, the first collar 412 (see FIG. 7) also uses the same structure to achieve sliding contact, which will not be repeated here.

Referring to Figures 7, 9 and 10, when in use, the reagent cartridges 91 are installed on the carrier 31, and the first ring seat 41 is driven to extend the stirring sleeves 921 by controlling the first driver 423 The reagent tank 911 of one of the reagent cassettes 91 is continuously raised and lowered in the reagent cassettes 91 to perform a stirring process. After the stirring is completed, as shown in FIG. 10, the second driver 443 is controlled to drive the second ring base 43 to link the magnetic rods 922 to extend into the stirring sleeves 921 to perform magnetic separation. After that, the stirring sleeve 921 and the magnetic rods 922 are raised synchronously and moved away from the reagent cartridges 91. When the transfer procedure is performed, as long as the rotary driver 34 is controlled to drive the carrier 31 to rotate, the reagent cartridges 91 can be displaced along the circumferential direction C (see FIG. 8) to another reagent tank 911 (see FIG. 8) Align the stirring sleeves 921, so that several biological samples (not shown) can be lysed, cleaned, nucleic acid recovery and other reactions in each reagent tank 911 in sequence according to the aforementioned stirring and transfer procedure, and then extracted and purified After the nucleic acid.

It can be understood that, in this embodiment, the rack unit 2 is used as a fixed element, and the bearing seat 31 is used as a rotating element to rotate relative to the rack unit 2, but in other variations, the reverse is also possible. Make the bearing seat 31 a fixed component, and make the rack unit 2 a rotating component, and the rotary drive 34 is arranged on the top seat 22 of the rack unit 2 and connected to the center column 21, the bearing seat 31 The gear 33 and the tooth portion 3134 can be omitted, and the rotary driver 34 can drive the frame unit 2 to rotate relative to the carrier 31. Therefore, the driving method that can make the two rotate relative to each other is within the scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the stop 32 has a waterproof effect and can isolate the central column 21, the first screw 422, and the second screw 442 inside, and isolate the reagent cartridges 91 from On the outside, the problem of damage to the driving mechanism caused by the falling of foreign objects can be avoided, so the safety is high.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the magnetic rods 922 made of permanent magnet materials. For the application example using electromagnets as the magnetic rods 922, since the magnetic rods 922 can be controlled externally, the magnetic The magnet bar 922 can be directly contained in the stirring sleeves 921 and move up and down synchronously with the stirring sleeves 921. At this time, the lifting unit 4 of the present invention can omit the second ring seat 43 and the second drive The mechanism 44 makes the present invention more lightweight.

In summary, the carrying seat 31 of the portable nucleic acid extraction device of the present invention adopts a circular motion rotation mode. Compared with the conventional linear motion, under the same displacement distance, the present invention can further reduce the volume of the device while reducing The lifting unit 4 is arranged within the circumference of the bearing base 31 to effectively use the space, so that the present invention has the effect of miniaturization and light weight, so it can indeed achieve the purpose of the present invention.

However, the above are only examples of the present invention. When the scope of implementation of the present invention cannot be limited by this, all simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application of the present invention and the content of the patent specification still belong to Within the scope of the patent for the present invention.

2: rack unit

21: Center column

22: Top seat

23: fixed seat

24: Support feet

3: Bearing unit

31: bearing seat

310: container

311: top surface

312: Bottom

313: inner ring surface

3131: small aperture section

3132: Large aperture section

3133: Shoulder

3134: Teeth

3135: Through hole

314: Outer Ring

315: Positioning piece

3151: curved slot

3152: pole

32: Block

320: room

321: Side groove

33: Gear

34: Rotary drive

341: output shaft

35: rotating parts

4: Lifting unit

41: The first ring seat

410: first mounting hole

411: First Block

412: The first ring

42: The first drive mechanism

421: The first combination

422: first screw

423: first drive

43: second ring seat

430: second mounting hole

431: Second Block

432: The Second Ring

4321: convex rib

44: second drive mechanism

441: second assembly

442: second screw

443: second drive

91: reagent cartridge

911: Reagent Tank

912: Long arc slot

92: Magnetic stirring set

921: Stirring Set

922: Magnet

C: circumferential direction

Z: Top and bottom direction

Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a three-dimensional exploded view illustrating a nucleic acid extraction device of the Republic of China Invention Patent No. I477755; 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the portable nucleic acid extraction device of the present invention for installing several reagent cartridges and several magnetic stirring sets; Figure 3 is a perspective exploded view of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a front view of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a perspective exploded view of a bearing seat and a fixing seat of the embodiment; Figure 6 is a top view of the bearing seat; Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in Figure 2; Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in Figure 4; Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 4, illustrating the descending movement of a first ring seat of the embodiment; and Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 illustrating the descending movement of a second ring seat of this embodiment.

21: Center column

22: Top seat

23: fixed seat

24: Support feet

3: Bearing unit

31: bearing seat

3134: Teeth

315: Positioning piece

34: Rotary drive

341: output shaft

4: Lifting unit

41: The first ring seat

42: The first drive mechanism

43: second ring seat

431: Second Block

432: The Second Ring

3151: curved slot

3152: pole

32: Block

320: room

321: Side groove

33: Gear

44: second drive mechanism

91: reagent cartridge

911: Reagent Tank

912: Long arc slot

92: Magnetic stirring set

Z: Top and bottom direction

Claims (10)

A portable nucleic acid extraction device, which is suitable for installing several reagent cartridges and several magnetic stirring kits and is used to drive the magnetic stirring kits to extend into the reagent cartridges respectively. The portable nucleic acid extraction device includes: a rack unit , Including a center column extending along a top and bottom direction; a bearing unit, including a bearing seat ringed outside the center column along the top and bottom direction and rotatable relative to the center column, the bearing seat having a plurality of Positioning pieces arranged at intervals along a circumferential direction, the positioning pieces are used for positioning the reagent cartridges to be installed on the supporting base; and a lifting unit, which is arranged on the rack unit and used to drive the magnetic stirring sets Moving relative to the bearing base in the top and bottom direction, the lifting unit includes: a first ring seat higher than the bearing seat and ringed outside the central column, the first ring seat being used for the magnetic stirring sleeves Group settings; and a first drive mechanism for driving the first ring seat to move relative to the bearing seat in the top and bottom direction. The portable nucleic acid extraction device according to claim 1, wherein the first driving mechanism has a first coupling member disposed on the first ring seat, and a first screw extending along the top-bottom direction, the first The screw is rotatably screwed to the first coupling member. The portable nucleic acid extraction device according to claim 1, wherein each of the magnetic stirring sets has a stirring sleeve arranged on the first ring seat, and a magnetic rod movable relative to the stirring sleeve, the lifting unit It also includes a second ring seat ringed outside the central column and higher than the first ring seat, and a second ring seat for driving the A second driving mechanism for the second ring seat to move relative to the bearing seat in the top and bottom direction, and the second ring seat is used for setting the magnet bars. The portable nucleic acid extraction device according to claim 3, wherein the second driving mechanism has a second coupling member disposed on the second ring seat, and a second coupling member extending along the top and bottom direction and rotatably screwed to the The second screw of the second coupling member. The portable nucleic acid extraction device according to claim 1, wherein the carrier has a top surface, a bottom surface opposite to the top surface, an inner ring surface connected to the top surface and the bottom surface, and a reverse On the outer ring surface of the inner ring surface, the top surface is formed with the positioning elements, the inner ring surface surrounds and defines a pocket for the central column to pass through, and the inner ring surface has a full circumference The bearing unit further includes a gear rotatably meshed with the tooth portion, and a rotary driver penetrating the gear and used to drive the gear to rotate. The rotary driver can drive the bearing seat relative to The center column rotates. The portable nucleic acid extraction device according to claim 5, wherein the rack unit further includes a fixing seat ringed at the bottom end of the central column and adjacent to the bottom surface of the bearing seat, and the bearing seat unit further includes several A rotating part rotatably arranged between the bearing seat and the fixed seat. The portable nucleic acid extraction device according to claim 6, wherein the inner ring mask has a small aperture section on the top side, a large aperture section on the bottom side and an inner diameter larger than the inner diameter of the small aperture section, and a Connected to the shoulder of the small aperture section and the large aperture section, the tooth part is formed on the small aperture section, and the fixing seat is embedded in the large aperture section and abuts against the shoulder. The portable nucleic acid extraction device according to claim 7, wherein the shoulder has There are several through holes arranged at intervals, and the through holes are respectively provided for the rotating parts. The portable nucleic acid extraction device according to claim 5, wherein each positioning member has an arc-shaped groove recessed on the top surface and used for placing the bottom end of the corresponding reagent cartridge. The portable nucleic acid extraction device according to claim 9, wherein each of the positioning members further has at least one vertical rod located in the respective arc-shaped groove and extending along the top and bottom direction, and the at least one vertical rod is used for supplying The respective cartridge settings.

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